AN/ Hey guys! Long time no see! The weekend turned into a holiday weekend. Sorry about the wait I forgot it was memorial day Monday as days seem to string together.

Enjoy this chapter! It's kinda 3 different "scenes" in one. Review, Rate, Fave, Follow, :)

Kinda on the longer end cuz of the drought

btw ty to the person who told me it was accidentally a repeat chapter

*end of AN*

"Hayden!" Liz said going over to the girl, leaning against the car hood. "We were looking all over for you, we nearly left."

"I've been ready to go for a while so I was waiting out here." Hayden said keeping her gaze down on her heels instead of her sister.

She seemed off. There's the obvious "Ava was almost murdered" sense of off. But this felt different. She seemed sad and bothered. Couldn't be connected to Ava.

"Hey, you okay?" Liz asks at this realization.

"Just tired." Hayden says letting out a big sigh and pushing some hair behind her ear.

For a past con-artist she just couldn't manage to lie to Elizabeth well. Either she had grown a soft spot for Liz that left her defenseless or Liz was just too familiar with liars to let any lie from anyone go unnoticed. Hayden knew it wasn't her skills but Liz that was the root of why Liz surely wouldn't accept this answer.

Liz did stay silent though, her exhaustion hitting her and telling her to save it for another day.

"You can sleep on the way home." Liz says handing her keys to Franco and walking over to her sister and putting her arm around her shoulder to walk with her to the back seat. She decided she'd sit back there with her and try and maybe get a little sleep in too.

"What about the other car?" Franco asks.

"We can get it tomorrow, i'll drive you in tomorrow." Liz said.

Franco was about to bring up the fact her shift started a few hours before his but he realized what she did. He'd wanna check on Ava.

Franco got inside the car and started it up. He was picked to drive as the least tired of the bunch, not sure if he'd manage to sleep at all actually. He grabbed his seatbelt and clicked it into place. He was leaving the hospital but it wasn't over. She's still in a coma. Franco tries to shake the bad thought but the truth's the truth. Tomorrow- techincally today- will be the same when he comes back to General Hospital.

As Franco does a mental check he always does to make sure he's ready to drive he notices it's all in order except one tiny thing.

"Should we listen to some music?" Franco asks turning to the backseat to find something sweet in all the sour the day had brought.

His wife and his sister in law asleep on each other in the back seat of the car. They looked peaceful. He smiled lightly at the sight. Maybe he would sleep tonight if not to escape to peacefulness himself but because despite the other things he was really lucky.

Unlucky. He's been so unlucky the past years of his life.

Every girl since Emily managed to break his heart. Liz, who he had an affair with, was more to him than that. She was his best friend, the sweet Liz Webber who he'd always looked at as kind and beautiful. But she was married, and any bliss that they had happened at the worst time. A time of lies and so any bliss they had was tainted what Nik could only think of as his selfishness. It wasn't real bliss then, just a moment in time where they were together and it felt good when it was bad, right when it was wrong, and in the moment's he forgot about his brother it felt perfect.

Then Britt. He and him just worked. And he cared about her so much, so did his son. They worked as a perfect family unit. The problem was that the family unit also had his nephew in it, who was stolen from his sister. He couldn't forget that. But he tried to move on. Until he had to have her arrested. Man, that was screwed up. He just wanted to be with her and have things work. Why did nothing ever work for him?

Then of course the real string of bad luck arrived with Hayden. It was a big long story of many things but it ended in him nearly dying. Dying at the hands of Valentin as she watched. She being Ava.

She was probably the only person he could think of than worse lucky than him. Probably? He reminds himself she's in a coma and he's positive. Ava has the worst luck. She doesn't deserve it but it follows her around the way it loves to come after him.

How serendipitous. The unlucky almost couple was facing some real bad luck together.

He waits what feels a lifetime. He spends it thinking back on every bad moment he's had trying to decide if he deserves it all. He's stuck on the thought of Spencer hating him when he's finally called out of it all by a nurse.

"Mr. Cassadine?" She calls out to him. "Your wife is in a room now, and if you'd like to go see her you may."

Nik is speechless as he stands, almost not sure he believes her. Surely something else would go wrong. It's all a joke? It's a dream and he managed to fall asleep?

"She's in room 303."

His legs carry him there quickly but as his hand places on the door handle he stops. Was he ready? He's only been waiting forever, how could he not. He wanted this. To see her. Why was it so hard?

He knows why. It's cause if he sees her it's all real. Unless his theory of a dream was real?

Wake up! he yells in his head sure if he's asleep this will wake him. Wake up!

Nope. This was real.

She was real too he sees as he opens the door. Laying there. Still. Silent. Attached to machine.

He lets out a painful sigh.

"Oh, Ava" he thinks as he lets a hand come up and cover his mouth in dismay and despair. "were gonna need some of that luck we never seem to have."

"Commissioner!" Detective Chase calls out rushing into the building. "I have the statements from the guests."

"Great." Jordan says taking the papers from him.

"Some still might need to make more formal statements." He explains. "The only one I couldn't get was, uh, Ava."

"She's dead?" Jordan jumps to.

"No." He corrects her. "Well, I don't know. I left before."

"Thank you, Chase." She says walking into the interrogation room.

Nobody was being interrogated, not yet anyways. But Laura was using it as a sort of makeshift desk to look over some things.

"Chase was able to get the statements, most of them at least." She explains to Laura throwing them down.

"Most?" Laura asks. "Who didn't he get?"

"Ava." Jordan says.

"Oh, of course." Laura says thinking back to her phone call with Franco. "Speaking of that, now that you have these you'll be able to hold Valentin long-term, yes?"

"Yeah, with this and whatever evidence my crime scene detective are finding we should be able to hold him and have him tried for the crime as well.

"Good." She states a little too strongly. "He needs to pay for at least one of his crimes. He could have killed Ava! He could have killed my son!"

"I assure you, we are gonna make these charges stick," Jordan offers her. "I know this is personal for you, involves your whole family."

Laura knows just how much it does. Lulu who wants Valentin away from Charlotte. Charlotte who wants nothing more than to be with him. Kevin who was shot by him. Nikolas who was shot by him too. Who has enough hate for Valentin to drown him. Even her daughter Ava was lying idle in a hospital at his hands.

Jordan knew Laura was antsy to leave, to be with her son.

"Laura you can go," She says. "We can handle this for right now."

Laura wanted to go so bad she didn't question it. If it was the right choice or if Jordan wanted to be a good understanding friend. She got up regardless and made her way out of the interrogation room, Jordan behind her.

"Commissioner!" Another detective calls out. "We need you to look at these, for the stabbing at the Max Security Prison."

Laura heard this and almost wanted to stop where she was and stay to help. She wasn't police of course, but this was personal and Jordan was busy. But Nikolas was also personal so she kept going until she was out the door and on her way to General Hospital.